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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. degree — temperature
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. degree — an amount
  5. file — a tool
  6. rule — a law
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. file — a line of people
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. degree — from a university
  12. pop — soda
  13. perch — the fish
  14. root — the cause
  15. root — of a word
  16. hand — help
  17. rule — government
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. root — of a plant
  21. pop — music
  22. file — a document
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pop — to visit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com